


Cold Affection

by Sheneya



Series: Who's Adopting Barry Allen? [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 23:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7288228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheneya/pseuds/Sheneya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry has yet to be adopted, but he finds himself being practically raised by a mostly cold-hearted individual and his weird little self-made family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Affection

**Author's Note:**

> All oneshots are adoptable, as long as you leave a note in the comments below saying you wish to expand the story.
> 
> Now Beta Read by farflungstars.

The first thing Barry heard about the new group home he was being moved to, was that it had recently received an influx of brand new staff members. Apparently the previous staff had been far too uninvolved in the care and protection of the children at the home, something which had only been brought to light in recent months, even though there had been rumours of children being seriously injured, and even an incident involving a young man being trapped in a large walk in freezer for a dangerously long time a number of years ago.

It became apparent to Barry that the potential adopters that came to figure out which child they wished to take home with them usually passed him over as soon as they heard that he still believed his father was innocent. Barry wasn't sure what the exact reason for this was. Perhaps they thought he'd go rogue in an attempt to free his father, or perhaps it was as Henry said; his name, the Allen name, was tainted by the events of that night. Even with Joe and Iris's support, he regularly found himself being ignored for the more adoption friendly children.

It was also apparent that some of the children that had been mistreated there in previous years, were, for some strange reason, keeping an eye on the place, although he couldn't really understand why.

It was while he was sitting in one of his more quiet spots to read, that he saw the first person. He would be lying if he said he'd never seen him before, but it wasn't in person, he'd accidentally seen his younger picture in one of Joe's' old case files, and it was clear he was probably about 25 years old now, however aside from his obvious fascination with the lighter he was holding, Mick Rory didn't have the scary feel of someone who kidnapped children and did horrible things to them, and Barry had learnt early on in life to trust his instincts. He didn't doubt the other man was probably a little crazy, but he was just not scary enough to stop the younger boy from casually sitting near his spot and chatting to him as if nothing was wrong. After nearly a year of trying to keep Barry separate from the fire happy man, Joe had eventually figured out Barry wasn't someone who listened to adult advice, probably due to them not listening to him about his father's innocence, so he just made sure Barry was willing to contact him should Rory turn out to be a danger to him.

Instead Mick Rory turned out to be the best protection Barry had against bullies and other unsavoury...more unsavoury people, although Joe never found enough evidence that Tony Woodwards' sudden aversion to picking on Barry was linked to his sudden aversion to Rory and firecrackers.

The second person Barry met was through Mick. He would have been, at most 10 years older than the younger boy, and even though his first friend was older still, it was clear that Leonard was the one in charge of their strange little friendship. He was also another person Joe admitted to feeling conflicted about. It was hard for him to admit but Joe knew that he, and the rest of the Central City police force had legitimately failed Leonard Snart and his sister, and unlike some members of the precinct, he would be the first to agree that the main reason they'd ignored the younger man and his sister's requests for help, was pride. Finding out one of their own was capable of such cruelty and they'd never believed it, had struck hard at the soul of the precinct, and, in the end, had been realized too late to prevent the damage inflicted on the corrupt officers children.

Again Joe ended up letting the friendship continue with a plea to Barry that he contact him should Snart turn out to be dangerous. And the hope that Barry might be a grounding force for both the older men when it came to their occasional, impossible to prove, yet at the same time obvious, petty larceny sprees. When Barry and Iris had asked what he'd meant, Joe found himself trying to explain the difference between knowledge and evidence to the two far too curious children.

The third person Barry met was a girl a few years younger than Leonard, yet even with her enthusiastic personality, it was obvious after the initial reaction Leonard had that he and Lisa were related, although clearly that relationship was rocky.

It was obvious that the two siblings cared a great deal for each other and even Rory to a certain extent, although he and Leonard seemed to enjoy having spats over the smallest things. It was also very clear that, even with Joe's words of warning, Barry had rather firmly integrated himself amongst his friends, even though he showed no signs of wanting to join in any of their less legal activities, something Joe was grateful for. Mick was as protective as the man seemed capable of being, Lisa had practically claimed Barry as her new favourite person, and even Leonard seemed uncharacteristically fond of the young boy.

It was only when he was alone with Barry and away from any potential observations by his fellow police officers, that Joe admitted he felt that Barry, Rory and the Snart siblings would be able to help each other heal from their various traumas, and look after each other in a way the police force had failed to do.

He also hoped it decreased the local crime rate, this, however, he didn't mention to Barry, preferring to keep that little dream to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been able to find Captain Cold or the other Rogues real ages, so I made them varying ages between 7 and 15 years older than little Barry.


End file.
